Something very dear to us all, I'm sure.

Hello everyone.

I would like to take a brief break from the current world surrounding us, made up of stress coming from our lives, school, future plans or the trouble we are having making them, or anything at all that might be troubling you. And instead of focusing on all these things that really, when really given a necessary degree of thought are really superficial in the grand scheme of things, I think we could all benefit sitting back and appreciating one of the finer arts in life.

Of course, I'm talking about grilling.

When was is told the word "grilling" a broad range of mental pictures may come up. But probably not. The first thing you think is most likely the very topic I would like to briefly discuss today. And that is, of course, the grilling of meats.

Before I begin, I think that it would be beneficial to provide a little bit of background, as always. For the last couple of years, cooking has become quite the interest of mine. I think it started Sophomore year at college when I would occasionally get together with some of my friends from around the floor of our dormitory and I would bake a batch of cookies with a recipe given from my mother, who received most of them from her mother. Baking has since that time become my favorite form of food preparation. Whenever I have a friends birthday or similar occasion come up, I've long since accepted that I'm terrible at selecting gifts to give them, so I will typically bake them cookies, or a cake, or another likely sweet snack. Ive dabbled into cooking things like dinners and the like, but I really haven't practiced it much so it's tough to talk about. I had also never even attempting the long-time-thought-of manliest form of cooking: grilling.

This weekend, that all changed.

Yes, my sister has recently graduated from high school and in honor of this occasion, we needed enough roasted chicken and sausages to feed upwards of 100 people who were willing to come to the graduation party. I volunteered to be in charge of the grill for the dual purpose of both (1) learning the craft and (2) seeing what all this grilling business is really about. So, after a brief tutorial by my father on how to ignite the flames and commence the controlled burning of these massive amounts of meat, I was out on the deck and on my own (except for my mother who was sure to yell out her own pieces of advice from inside the kitchen, and for the purposes of making me look like more awesome shall no longer be discussed in this entry).

First up was the chicken. Now, the chicken had been marinating in Italian salad dressing for well over a day and as such was slimy, gooey, and smelled just like one unfamiliar with Italy would imagine it to. I through them onto the grill and created a little composition that looked a little something like this:





So the fires were roaring and the meat was heating up at a very rapid pace. This first batch of chicken was the first of another roughly 6 groups of 8 that were to follow it, totaling no less than 56 chicken breasts, which is a number that even the most humble can be proud of. As with any duty requiring these kind of numbers, I managed to form a system. Roast the chicken for 10 minutes, turn them over. Roast another 10. Turn down the heat. Then continue to turn them until they are done. They began to look as follows:



Looks pretty tasty, right? Well after all this chicken came the sausages. We had something like 60 Italian sausage links which were entrusted to me to heat until hitting prime deliciousness. Here we have the links in the state before they were cooked:


(Blogger has begun posting all of my pictures sideways. I'm not sure why this is)

And I have apparently mistakenly forgot to take a picture of them upon completion and for that offer my sincerest apologies. But people seemed to enjoy eating them, so I consider it a job well done.

And more than that, I would also like to express my newfound appreciation for these kind of slow moving activities such as mass-grilling. I was sitting out on the deck for a good 5 hours and in that time read a lot of stuff. It was the first time I've had the chance to sit down and read in a very long time and since I've finished grilling I've been reading more and more, even during times there is no grilling to be done. I also think that there is something almost meditative about the act, where you just lose your mind to it. It's the same sensation I get while drawing, exercising, or doing the dishes. Everyone out there, particularly those of you reading this should learn how to grill. It's quick, easy, and food prepared yourself always tastes much better than anything you ever buy in a store. And even for you vegetarians out there, there is little I can think of better than a potato or eggplant roasted on the fires of an open grill. Ready your appetites!

Next time: Alex's Adventures through Jury Duty!